Comic for January 5, 2023: Chapter 22 Severance

[Bellhead]

NEW CHAPTER! And by the looks of things, Brahn seems to have orchestrated some sort of climax between Natani and Clovis. The whole "confront your past" spiel is a bit cliché, but it does work pretty well when done right. That, and now with Nat having discussed being a powerful female with King Adelaide, there's a strong chance we'll get a scene with Natani saving everyone as a valiant unstoppable badass mage. And that I would GLADLY pay to see.

[Eclipse]

I mean, you could see the "confront your past" thing coming a mile away once Clovis attacked the Estate, Natani (and Zen presumably) vs. Clovis was going to be an inevitability. Interesting that Brahn might want this confrontation to happen though. Wonder what exactly he's using Clovis for?

[Hayate]

The title makes me a little worried…

[Neutral Smith]

'Good' to see the big C back to his original form.

Now I wonder what will be severed. The link between Natani and Zen, or a bad ending for the big C and (s)he is being severed from his power (still smug on the title page)...

[Bellhead]

The title makes me a little worried…

'Good' to see the big C back to his original form.

Now I wonder what will be severed. The link between Natani and Zen, or a bad ending for the big C and (s)he is being severed from his power (still smug on the title page)...

I interpreted it in the sense of, "severance pay" when leaving a job. So this would be the Brothers' final interaction with the Folf, and all scores would be settled, "severing" all ties.

Of course, it could mean severing the link between Nat and Zen, but I kinda doubt it.

[Cinnibar]

I imagine we'll discover that Natani's opinion of females was helped along, in part, to Clovis' influence while 'saving' him.

[Starcat5]

The title makes me a little worried…

'Good' to see the big C back to his original form.

Now I wonder what will be severed. The link between Natani and Zen, or a bad ending for the big C and (s)he is being severed from his power (still smug on the title page)...

I interpreted it in the sense of, "severance pay" when leaving a job. So this would be the Brothers' final interaction with the Folf, and all scores would be settled, "severing" all ties.

Of course, it could mean severing the link between Nat and Zen, but I kinda doubt it.

Mostly what you said, as well as the potential of severing Clovis from this mortal coil. Which, given that they are now a dragon, could just mean that they might end up stuck hanging out with the Masks in Mask-Space, or where ever that is. Everyone raise their hand, paw, or analog gripping appendage if they find the idea of the Masks being all serious, while Clovis sulks in the background, to be hilarious?

[Eclipse]

Now I wonder what will be severed. The link between Natani and Zen, or a bad ending for the big C and (s)he is being severed from his power (still smug on the title page)...

Titles like this tend to have multiple meanings, so it'll probably be multiple things that are severed. My guess is the biggest things severed are going to have to do with Clovis, they'll probably defeat him in this chapter, he'll probably lose his control over Reni, possibly even die, Natani and Zen will be even less dependent on him, Brutus is probably going to abandon Clovis after he left him for dead. Brahn is also probably going to sever their alliance somehow and his plans will probably be revealed this chapter.

It could also have something to do with Zen and the mind link though. I had an idea a while ago where Zen might die in the confrontation with Clovis and Natani and Keith would mind link instead to save Natani. I don't believe that's going to happen now because Zen seems to be set up to move on with his own life (possibly with Kat), but I do think there are elements of this that could still happen. Clovis would love to have Natani and Zen under his thumb again, they're better alive than dead to him, so I think he's going to try and force some kind of situation to regain control of the mind link. If he can also get Keith involved (not sure how much Clovis knows about their relationship at this point), all the better in Clovis eyes.

It might also have something to do with Trace and his connection to the Estate and his past? I suspect this is the last chapter in the Estate arc and I think a lot of us expect Rose to have passed on (if she hasn't already) and the Estate to go boom. This whole incident might motivate him to reject and confront his past, especially if he finds out Brahn is involved in these events.

Also, Clovis being smug in his Keidran form is likely just symbolic. IDK that we'll see him return to his Keidran form again, he'll probably die by the end.

[Bellhead]

I imagine we'll discover that Natani's opinion of females was helped along, in part, to Clovis' influence while 'saving' him.

If you're born a woman, that's all my people ever see. ~Natani
And also,
But there were certain things I admired about humans. Freakishly long lives, education... attitudes regarding women. ~Sythe

It's safe to say that it's basically expected in wolf keidran culture that women are essentially considered property, as sexist as that is. By what we've seen of Clovis in TDM, his character sheet and heard in canon, I'd say that Nat's views of cultural feminine inferiority certainly weren't helped by Clovis, and they were definitely reaffirmed by him, but I doubt he actually made them any worse given how bad Nat's views already were.

That said, having lived among Trace & co. for the last couple months and seeing a different way to live, as well as that discussion while having tea with King Adelaide, would almost certainly have made him feel that his old worldview was more than a little skewed. And that would likely mean that Clovis, spouting all her sexist nonsense, would hit even harder now than it did way back when. After all, Natani is no longer as numb to the concept of women being inferior as he originally was, but clearly still retains memory of the culture, and more than likely would exhibit a bit of PTSD when such a memory is dredged up.

It'll be interesting to see how Tom handles that. Mental abuse isn't something easily shown on screen like wounds, especially old mental abuse. I wonder how Nat will react...

[Technic[Bot]]

I certainly love titles with possible multiple meanings.

Severing the past, the links, your severance pay...

Kinda afraid for some of the cast, we already had a lot of deaths but only minor side characters.

[Tornir]

I suspect this is the last chapter in the Estate arc and I think a lot of us expect Rose to have passed on (if she hasn't already) and the Estate to go boom.

I think Rose is really dead. Looking at her body's location in relation to the crystal in the roof of the greenhouse through which Detritus was blocking her and sustaining himself, it would appear she was in the direct line of fire when Stony destroyed it.
With her binding to the estate gone, it looks like she left with Saria.

[Thomas Rot]

It's been a while since we got a chapter cover without the TK logo somewhere on the page. Funnily enough that last happened in Chapter 11 just before the climax of another arc and the last time we actually got major character deaths. Lots for Tom to cram into 20something pages if he wants to go with that parallel.

Seems pretty clear one of the first things Clovis is going to do is try and break into the mind link, right? A dragon was the one who accessed it and cut him out of it in the first place. So “severance” is definitely going to involve cutting him back out, however that's going to work without another dragon to do it. Maybe that involves severing the link completely, maybe not.

Nat had mana burn a short while ago with an indeterminate amount of crystals left, and he’s the biggest gun the group has against a dragon right now. Is it gonna take three pages for the amulet to start sucking Clovis’ magic away or whatever backdoor was built into it? Four pages? Five? Can't be too long with the way the group is completely outgunned here.

With so little room in the chapter I doubt the estate is going to go boom just yet, literally or otherwise. We’d need to cut around to at least four other POVs (Breakfast Cereal etc., watching remotely; Trace etc., third floor; Zen etc., bedrooms; Landing and Ceiling, garden; maybe also the rapidly cooling body of Brutus in the dungeons) and there isn't time for that. Not the only possible massive explosion coming this chapter of course. We live in hope.